Ginnifer’s father has English, some Welsh, and distant German, ancestry. Ginnifer’s mother is from a Jewish family (of Lithuanian Jewish, Russian Jewish, and German Jewish descent).

During her childhood, Ginnifer attended synagogue on Saturdays and Unitarian church on Sundays (her parents had both joined a Unitarian church before she was born). Ginnifer was both baptized, and had a Bat Mitzvah ceremony. After leaving Memphis for Hollywood, she lapsed in her Jewish faith. In 2013, she stated that she had recently once again become a practicing Jew. She considers herself Jewish and wants to raise her children in the Jewish faith.

Ginnifer’s paternal grandfather was John Barton Goodwin (the son of John Albert Goodwin and Nellie May Haynes). Ginnifer’s great-grandfather John was the son of The Rev. John Wilkinson Goodwin and Margaret Elizabeth “Bettie” Searcy. Nellie was the daughter of Isaac Bart Haynes and Lilly Safley.

Ginnifer’s maternal grandfather was the son of Harry David Kanterovitch/Kantor and Rose Levinson. Harry and Rose were born in Vilnius, Lithuania. Harry was the son of Pesach Kanterovitch and Rachel Leah Shapiro. Rose was the daughter of Morris Levinson and Fanny Reva Sheppolevitch.

Ginnifer’s maternal grandmother was the daughter of Hal Halperin and May Torgatsch. Hal was born in Odessa, now in the Ukraine, the son of Samuel Halperin and Rebeka Rosa/Rose Malcoe. May was born in Chicago, Illinois, to parents of German Jewish descent, Julius Torgatsch, from Ulm, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, and Gussie Hart.

Correction her great grandmother’s maiden name was not Barton. On Who do you think you are she found out that Nellie was born Nellie Haynes and probably was changed to avoid people finding out about her past.